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The Caretaker Has Come to Save the World!

It’s Doctor Who Saturday and this is the obligatory review for “The Caretaker“. I’m always writing this right after I finished watching it and it consists of numerous Spoilers! Consider yourself warned!

Although I am sure some people find the Skovox Blitzer very scary, I do not; but the episode really wasn’t about it (him?). It was rather about Clara having to see her two worlds collide. Let’s face it, we all knew she couldn’t keep her private life and her Doctor life separated forever. I was anticipating this episode ever since they introduced Danny Pink to us, and it was amazing! Here are my thoughts on “The Caretaker“:

I liked the beginning where you could see Clara trying to juggle her lifestyles while still keeping up appearances. I’m sure some of the places she went to with the Doctor would have made for great (long-format) stories.

John Smith is back and it’s been a while! I like it when the Doctor has to use his alias or his psychic paper in episodes, because to me it seems like forever that he did. I remember episodes where it was something of a requirement to use the psychic paper at least once, but I understand that they wanted to give it a break in order to not overdo it too much.

My favourite part by far was the proper meeting or rather introduction of the Doctor and Danny. I knew it would cause tension that Danny was a soldier and I think this will make for great material in the future. When I see them fighting, I never know on which side I should be, because they both care about Clara and want her best. On the one hand I don’t want Danny to be the cause for trouble in the (almost) perfect relationship between Clara and the Doctor, but on the other hand the Doctor is so stubborn. Clara and Danny are the cutest together.

I can’t believe Clara dropped the l-bomb. I have no clue how long they’ve actually been dating, but I guess no one expected her to use the word “love” just yet.

Somehow, I got really sad when the Doctor got confused about Clara’s boyfriend. Not the fact that he didn’t like Danny, I expected that, but that he thought she was dating someone who looked like Eleven. A ton of people already commented on the preview for the episode that Adrian (Clara’s colleague) looks a lot like Matt Smith, but I didn’t see it at first. It dawned on me extremely late, but yeah … the bow tie, the hair … they are definitely not twins, but I will grant them somewhat of a resemblance.

Courtney is such a lucky girl! There is nothing more to add.

We got another Paradise/Missy hint. Again, it wasn’t much, but at least we now know that she doesn’t work alone. It’s something.

I am not yet sure what to think of next weeks episode “Kill the Moon“, probably because I cannot yet comprehend what it’s actually about. What are your thoughts so far?

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23 thoughts on “The Caretaker Has Come to Save the World!”

I really liked this episode, they pulled it off very well. It was hilarious seeing Clara trying to juggle both her lives and then watching them collide like that. And in the end, though they had a rocky start, Danny earned the Doctor’s approval (with moves lie that, it’s hard not to). And I think Danny knows a bit of what’s in store for Clara. It should be interesting.

Yeah, I kind of agree with you that the Skovox Blitzer wasn’t that scary, but it was still pretty cool. I’d be open to seeing it in another episode.

And by the way, I think I know what the next episode is about. It might be a throwback to the Third Doctor serial, “Planet of the Spiders”, with a mix of “Alien” tension. Should be fun for a guy like me.

I loved that Danny accepted the truth pretty quickly, but also that he challenged the Doctor. I am really excited to see their relationship develop.
I feel like I am missing sooo many references, because I am pretty much oblivious when it comes to Classic Who. I need to get on that …

It’s well worth it. The production values are pretty silly, but they can still tell a compelling story. Oh, and I wasn’t surprised about the “L” bomb. If the Doctor is visiting Clara every Wednesday or so like before, a lot of time has probably passed. Plenty of time to fall in love with someone.

Yeah, you’re probably right. When it comes to Doctor Who I often lose all feeling for time and since I just couldn’t tell how much time passed, it felt really soon. But their fate was kind of sealed when they introduced Orson Pink anyway.

Hmmm … television in the 60s was so different and I am terribly used to my current technical standards. Nah, just kidding. I want to watch it, I just need to find the time and it’s not very likely that that will happen soon.

There was a LOT going on this episode, wasn’t there?! I’m still trying to wrap my head around large portions of it. The Scovox Blitzer was meant to be a generic universe-destroying menace; I don’t think it was supposed to be taken seriously. I laughed at loud at the Adrian bits, and at the Doctor’s (feigned?) amnesia at Colonel Orson Pink. Plus, I really enjoyed the Courtney stuff, and I was a little disappointed when she turned out to be such a failure as a traveling companion! Now, next week looks to be properly scary, in a way the Blitzer was never meant to me.

You’re probably right about the Scovox Blitzer, but I never know which monsters they want me to take serious and which not. Because when you announce it as the destroyer of universes, I have the feeling that I should take the threat serious, but the Scovox Blitzer was ridiculous.
I don’t think he feigned amnesia though, I believe he seriously couldn’t connect Danny with Orson, just like he couldn’t believe that Danny was a maths and not PE teacher.
Courtney really blew her opportunity, didn’t she? Such a shame …
Next week really does look scary! As usual, I can’t wait!

I actually loved this episode, because it was not about the monster, it was all about the relationships, and it kind of reminded me of some eps of 9 and 10 with Rose, Jackie and Mickey, in a very good way. Love Danny, so far (of the 3 – Mickey, Rory and him) he’s the best one – he understands, he doesn’t get in the way, but also he’s there for her, and that’s a lovely thing 😀

I totally agree. This episode definitely wasn’t about the monster and those are usually my favourites. I am really happy with this season so far and I like that we get to see so much of Clara and now hopefully also Danny, but I can’t help feeling like the focus is so much more on her than on the Doctor.
Don’t get me wrong, Capaldi does an amazing job and it already feels like he’s been the Doctor for ages, but he’s been overshadowed by others in some of the episodes so far.

if anything, i guess they are going back a bit to 2005. In the first episodes of the 9th era, the stories were more about rose than the doctor himself. I guess we could use a “solo” adventure or something 😉 still, at least this season has made me really like Clara

I understand where you’re coming from, almost everyone of my friends thought the same. I will admit that Clara’s character wasn’t introduced properly, but I was infatuated with her and her relationship with the Doctor right from the beginning 🙂